Green tech generating sense of job security

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"After 5,000 years of attempting to conquer nature and one another, we humans are waking up to the reality that we inhabit a living spaceship that functions as a community. Our attack on nature is an attack on the life support system on which our every breath depends." - David C. Korton in Agenda for a New Economy

The evidence has been mounting on climate change, so much that the naysayers who would have us believe this is a climate "cycle" that won't change the planet drastically have been reduced to a small minority.

Despite the loud noises this group continues to make, the population seems to understand what the evidence means.

Even in economic hard times, the Canadian public expressed clearly, in a March Ipsos Reid poll, that they are more concerned about climate change than they were a year ago (69 per cent) and wish the Canadian government would harmonize climate change policies with the U.S. (91 per cent). Sixty-eight per cent of Canadians polled believe that "the U.S. will do more to tackle climate change under President Barack Obama than Canada will." Yet, the Canadian government under Stephen Harper continues to pay lip service only to the damning facts of climate change. This, despite the hard evidence emanating from our own northern shores about melting tundra and disappearing glaciers.

One reason that is regularly regurgitated for this embarrassing performance on the climate front? The number of jobs that will be lost if traditional industries - oil, coal, autos - are no longer operational.

But there's something wrong with this picture. It turns out that the best place to be right now, economic hard times or no, is in a "green" industry.

That's what the workers feel, anyway.

James Kanter reported in the New York Times last month that more than two-thirds of workers with "green" jobs believe "attention on climate issues among governments and businesses had increased their sense of job security." This survey, the first Carbon Salary Survey by Reuters of 1,200 professionals who work in areas like renewable energy and emissions trading, indicated that "75 per cent of respondents were satisfied with their jobs, while 93 per cent said they would recommend a career in the environmental sector to others." And why not? According to a United Nations Environment Program report, Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009, "global investors spent about $250 billion building new power capacity in 2008, and for the first time the lion's share of that money went to renewable sources," Kanter wrote.

This translates into 56 per cent of investment dollars, worth $140 billion, for projects like hydro power, wind, solar and geothermal. Investment in fossil fuel technologies, like building new coal plants in China, came in at $110 billion.

The report acknowledged that the current economic crisis weighed heavily in 2008 compared with 2007, as "investors spent just 5 per cent more on clean energy in 2008 compared to three previous years of growth exceeding 50 per cent. Investment in the United States fell by 8 per cent and in Europe it grew by 2 per cent." Investment in developing countries in 2008, however, grew by 27 per cent to $36.6 billion, nearly 33 per cent of global investments. This included wind power projects in China and geothermal projects in countries like Australia, Japan and Kenya, as well as new policies and laws fostering clean energy soon to be introduced in Brazil, Chile, Peru and the Philippines.

Overall, Kanter wrote, "the wind sector attracted the most new investment, with a total of $51.8 billion, representing growth of 1 per cent compared to 2007. Solar made large gains, recording growth of 49 per cent to reach total investment of $33.5 billion. Geothermal was the highest growth sector, with investment up 149 per cent to $2.2 billion." How does this relate to jobs? North American numbers continue to be encouraging. A June 2009 report from Pew Charitable Trusts shows that clean-energy jobs grew by 9.1 per cent between 1998 and 2007 in the U.S., while total jobs grew by only 3.7 per cent.

In that country, according to the 2009 Green Collar Jobs report from the American Solar Energy Society, continued political support for their development should result in 37 million jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency industries by 2030.

At the moment, it's estimated that the majority of these jobs are in engineering, legal, research, consulting or government administration sectors, while nearly one-quarter are in renewable power generation, construction, systems installation and manufacturing sectors.

Green jobs are a growth industry even in Canada, despite its poor showing on the climate stage. One estimate, cited by the Canadian Labour Congress, indicates that 2 million jobs designed to combat climate change will be created over the next 15 years.

Despite fallout from the financial meltdown, workers in the green sector have reason to be optimistic. Investment by governments and private industry is on the rise.

What's the biggest stimulus for clean energy investments? An agreement in Copenhagen in December, at a meeting aimed at creating a successor treaty to Kyoto Protocol.

Let's hope Canada has decided to invest in a green future - and this country's workers - by that time.

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